The men's and women's indoor track squads competed this weekend at the Valentine Invitational hosted by Boston University, one of the final testing grounds before the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships in two week's time. Though the meet was not scored, Brown had top individual performances on both teams, both on the track and off.
"We wanted to get a good read on where the team is going into Heps, and we got that," said Michelle Eisenreich, director of men's and women's track and field. "Everybody competed with the championship attitude and did very well."
John Spooney '14 had standout performances — one record-setting — in both the 60-meter dash and 200-meter dash. His time of 21.35 seconds in the 200m set a new school record for the event and earned him third place in the race. He also placed second in the 60m with a time of 6.85 seconds, giving him the fifth-fastest time ever run by a Brown athlete in the event.
Nathan Elder '13 also ran well and finished third in the 500-meter dash with a time of 1 minute, 4.68 seconds.
"It was about 90 percent of what I wanted from the race, but I definitely think I have to improve over the next two weeks," Elder said. "My focus yesterday was getting out hard and fast and I did that, but I think I let myself get too relaxed in the middle of the race."
Erik Berg '13 had a strong performance in the 1000-meter run with a time of 2 minutes, 23.39 seconds, placing second overall and just shy of breaking Trinity Gray's '00 record in the 1000m, according to Eisenreich.
"Trinity still has one of the top five times in NCAA history in the (800-meter run)," Eisenreich said. "So to come close to breaking one of his records is pretty awesome."
Off the track, Kenneth Thompson '13 earned second in the triple jump with a leap of 14.58 meters. Matthew Miller '15 threw 14.88 meters in the shot put to finish fifth.
"(Miller has) improved every week, so he's doing a really great job, and hopefully he'll continue to improve and be a factor for us," Eisenreich said.
On the women's side, Lauren Waterbury '15 earned seventh in the 200m and fourth in the 400-meter dash, with times of 25.05 and 54.62 seconds, respectively. Her 400m dash time was the third-fastest in Brown history.
Heidi Caldwell '14, who competed in the 5,000-meter run, finished fourth with a time of 16 minutes, 37.66 seconds. Susan Scavone '12 ran the 60-meter hurdles in 8.80 seconds to finish seventh overall. The women's 4x400-meter relay team consisting of Michele Narbonne '15, Colby Lubman '14, Alexandra Stanton '15 and Waterbury finished in 3 minutes, 48.24 seconds and earned second place.
Jara Crear '12 led Bruno on the field, leaping 5.47 meters to finish first in the long jump. Lacey Craker '13 finished seventh in the weight throw with a heave of 16.35 meters.
"I was really exited with how Lacey Craker threw in the weight," Eisenreich said. "Her technique is coming together, and with more speed work over the next couple of days, she is going to do very well at Heps."
The teams will compete at the USATF New England Championships Feb. 19 in the final competition before the Ivy League Championships at the end of the month. With the championships only two weeks away, Eisenreich said she is optimistic that both teams will be competitive at a meet the team has been preparing for all season.
"I think the men are going to do really well," Eisenreich said. "The women are going to be a little down as we graduated a couple key scorers, but the people we do bring are going to do very, very well."
